This invention relates to mine stoppings, more particularly to a wall section per se for installation in a mine passageway, usually one with another to constitute a stopping or a permanent stopping form, the resultant stopping, and the methods of installation of the stopping and permanent stopping form in the passageway.
Reference may be had to the following prior U.S. patents, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, for disclosure of predecessors of the stopping and permanent stopping form of this invention:
Stoppings and permanent stopping forms of the type shown in said prior U.S. patents have been widely used over the years and have generally been readily installed and quite satisfactory. But with increasing labor costs, especially for labor down in a mine, the cost of installation has increased. This is due, for example, to the considerable labor time down in the mine, with attendant considerable cost involved, in making holes (e.g. the holes 51 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,642) in the ribs of the passageway where the stopping is to be installed for the horizontally extending bars (e.g. bars 3 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,642), setting up the extensible panels (e.g. panels 7 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,642) one at a time, and applying wire ties (such as ties 9 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,642).
Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a stopping and permanent stopping form construction which makes possible a reduction in labor time required for installation of the stopping; the provision of a stopping and permanent stopping form construction eliminating, for example, the necessity for making holes in the ribs of the passageway where the stopping is to be installed, the setting of a bar in such holes, and the setting up of the extensible panels one at a time; the provision of a stopping system embodying said construction; and the provision of a method of installation utilizing said construction.
The invention involves a portable wall section comprising a plurality of elongate upright panels secured in adjacent side-by-side relation. Each panel comprises a lower panel member having a lower end and an upper panel member extensible in an upward direction relative to the lower panel member for adjusting the overall height of the panel to accommodate mine passages of different heights. The panels form a portable assembly which can be transported to an installation site in the mine passageway. The stopping system of the invention generally comprises one or more of said wall sections and, where the system includes more than one wall section, means connecting them to form a wall across the mine passageway. A permanent mine stopping form of the invention generally comprises first and second form walls in parallel relation to one another wherein at least one of the form walls comprises a portable wall section. The methods of the invention generally comprise installing a stopping or permanent mine stopping form by positioning one or more of the wall sections generally end-to-end to extend across the mine passage, extending the upper panel members relative to the lower panel members to bring the upper panel members into pressure engagement with the roof of the mine passage, securing the upper panel members relative to the lower panel members in extended position, and closing any gaps between the stopping sections and any gaps between the stopping sections and the side ribs of the mine passage.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.